2001 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2001 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2001 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Randy Walker.

2001 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–7 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Randy Walker (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Napoleon Harris[1] Zak Kustok
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Seasons ← 2000 2002 →

2001 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 Illinois $		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 20 Michigan		6	–	2					8	–	4
Ohio State		5	–	3					7	–	5
Iowa		4	–	4					7	–	5
Purdue		4	–	4					6	–	6
Penn State		4	–	4					5	–	6
Indiana		4	–	4					5	–	6
Michigan State		3	–	5					7	–	5
Wisconsin		3	–	5					5	–	7
Minnesota		2	–	6					4	–	7
Northwestern		2	–	6					4	–	7
$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	7:00 pm	at UNLV*	No. 16	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	ESPN2	W 37–28	26,721
September 15		Navy*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL		Canceled		[2]
September 22	5:00 pm	at Duke*	No. 16	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC		W 44–7	18,427
September 29	2:30 pm	No. 23 Michigan State	No. 16	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	W 27–26	40,103
October 6	6:45 pm	at Ohio State	No. 14	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ESPN	L 20–38	104,042
October 13	11:00 am	Minnesota		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	W 23–17	31,097
October 20	2:30 pm	Penn State	No. 22	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 35–38	42,512
October 27	11:00 am	at No. 24 Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	L 27–32	67,181
November 3	12:00 pm	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN		L 21–56	26,213
November 10	11:00 am	Iowa		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	L 16–59	36,458
November 17	11:00 am	Bowling Green*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL		L 42–43	23,545
November 22	12:00 pm	at No. 10 Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN2	L 28–34	45,755
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3][4]

Roster

2001 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 20 Damien Anderson Sr C 62 Austin King Jr OT 73 Jeff Roehl Jr QB 10 Zak Kustok (C) Sr OL 56 Mike Souza Sr WR 32 Sam Simmons Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 2 Kevin Bentley Sr DE 7 Ray Bogenrief So DT 94 Luis Castillo Fr DT 98 Pete Chapman Jr DT 97 Colby Clark Fr CB 27 Raheem Covington Jr LB 3 Pat Durr Jr LB 8 Napoleon Harris (C) Sr DE 96 Greg Lutzen Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Randy Walker Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 2002-02-08

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Napoleon Harris	Linebacker	1	23	Oakland Raiders
Kevin Bentley	Linebacker	4	101	Cleveland Browns
Sam Simmons	Wide Receiver	5	170	Miami Dolphins

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 150. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
2. "Football Game With Navy Canceled". nusports.com. September 12, 2001. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
3. "2001 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results".
4. "2001 Football Schedule". nusports.com. Retrieved July 31, 2024.